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Just posted! A webcast with multiple award-winning author, Lois Lowry.

In 1977, Lois Lowry published A Summer to Die, a story about family, loss, life, and hope. It was Lowry’s first children’s book, written in her characteristically frank, feeling, and beautiful prose. It won the International Reading Association’s award for fiction in 1979. That same year, Lowry published the first in her now famous series of Anastasia Krupnick books. And the world of children’s literature was never the same again.

In her long and distinguished career, Lowry has written 45 books and been awarded two Newbery medals for Number the Stars in 1990, and The Giver in 1994. Her unabashed exploration of difficult subject matter has also made her a frequently challenged children’s book author. In 2015, she was awarded the Free Speech Defender Award by the National Coalition Against Censorship.

While it is difficult to summarize the decades-long career of a luminary who has produced not one, but several seminal books in the history of children’s literature, two things that stand out are Lowry’s versatility, and her respect for her readers’ level of understanding. Versatility in that she can write hysterically funny books as well as deeply poignant ones. And respect for readers in that she doesn’t shy away from difficult, embarrassing, uncomfortable, or socially charged topics. Instead, she speaks to the reader as an equal. It is the ultimate form of literary empathy, one that has the power to change a reader for life.

Q: In the background of your story time photos, I always see amazing stuff like a cross section of a house, a big wall of book, and a giant tree??? What is that? Can you give us a tour?

Sure! That fantastical landscape you’re seeing behind Ian and his box dog is Bookscape, the Cotsen Children’s Library’s public gallery. You might be surprised to learn that while Cotsen is technically a library, the “library” part of it contains our rare books and special collections. We don’t, for example, have circulating copies of books like public libraries. We do, however, have reading copies of books available in the Bookscape gallery. And like our programming, Bookscape is open to the public and free of charge. Ready for a tour?

The Cotsen Library opened its doors in 1997. Back then, its public gallery looked a little different. But in 2002, architect James Bradberry, artist Judson Beaumont, and Cotsen staff collaborated to create the now-iconic Bookscape.You enter Bookscape through a topiary garden. In the below image, you can see that garden from another angle. The giant glass wall of books you see rising in the background is a 3-story rare books vault. And that’s only about 1/5 of our collection!

I love the inlay on the floor of the garden. Not only is it beautiful, it also made a great fire pit for a camping story time (you can just see it underneath all the construction paper fire and cotton ball marshmallows).

Past the garden, you find yourself in a little house. Stretched across one side of the house is a fireplace.

See the black railing on the top of the house? That marks the perimeter of a little hidden room. You climb the bookshelf stairs on the left and unlock a trap door to gain access to the room. We currently use it for office storage. But sometimes, I climb up there to launch UFO or two.

Above the house’s fireplace is a clock. A closer look reveals that it tells Princeton, Cinderella,13 Clock, and Connecticut Yankee time.

The bookshelves that flank the fireplace are stocked with wooden books. Many of them have tongue-in-cheek titles, courtesy of the Cotsen staff.

Here are just a few titles:

The Feline in the Fedora
Fly Through Your O.W.L.S by H. Granger
Just So-So Stories
Step-Mommy Dearest
Dare to Be Different by U. Duckling
Richard’s Scariest Word Book Ever
From the Mixed Up Files of Enron
Ramona Quimby, Age Eighty
Effective Communication by Amelia Bedelia
Goldilocks: My Story
Never-Never Land on Pennies a Day
Strega No-No
The Very Hungry Multinational Conglomerate

To the left of the fireplace is a cozy study booth. Often, this is where I’ll find Princeton University students reading, writing, and working on their laptops.

Opposite the fireplace is the “study.” Here you’ll find bookshelves and big, squashy leather coaches. This is also the chapter book section of the gallery.

Over the years, I’ve used the bookshelves for hiding things during scavenger hunts, or for holding items like this orange mailbox during a mailman story time.

Not too far from the house is our wooden puppet theater. I can’t tell you how much use this gets! The theater has a puppet storage bin built into the back (I buy animal and insect puppets from Folkmanis), and an extra-deep stage so puppeteers can comfortably rest their elbows during performances. The velvet curtains slide back and forth on a rod. Best of all, our puppets are multilingual! I’ve heard performances in English, French, German, Japanese, Hebrew, Italian…

Outside the house, in the back of the gallery, is our bridge, wishing well, and bonsai tree.

The bridge is prime toddler territory. They love to test out their walking skills on its gentle slope.

But the bridge also comes in handy when you need a train tunnel during story time!

The wishing well is next to the bridge…

There’s an entrance to the well on the right – it’s shaped like a jagged crack. Look closely in the above photo and you’ll see the water “escaping” from the right side of well and flowing under the bridge. It ends in this cute little koi pond.

We’ve certainly done a lot of fishing and splashing in the pond at story time. It’s also a popular location for Vikings and Pirates to search for coins!

In the back right-hand corner of the gallery is our giant bonsai tree.

The tree has two floors. The ground floor can comfortably fit a family or a group of kids. There are 3 alcoves for picture book storage, and big puffy floor pillows.

When our To Be Continued chapter book program is in session, I bring out even more floor pillows and we spread out!

Curling along the back of the tree is a staircase that leads to a small upstairs room and another pair of comfortable pillows.

Both tree rooms have graffiti carved into the walls by literary characters. Here’s my favorite:

The back left-hand corner of Bookscape isn’t the most glamorous area of our gallery, but it’s certainly the place closet to my heart. It’s our program area.

This is where the magic and the mess happens.

There are lots of other little touches and surprises in our gallery, but I won’t reveal them all. You’ve got to come and discover them for yourself! Ten years ago, when I was interviewing for my job at Cotsen, I walked into the gallery and was overwhelmed with emotion. Yes, I had seen pictures of Bookscape online, but they didn’t prepare me for what it felt like to be fully immersed in the gallery. I silently swore that if I got the job, I would do my best to create programs that would match the love, care, and consideration that went into designing this amazing space for kids.

If you’d like to see a little video the University made about our space, and meet some of the students who work here, you’ll find it here!

I get lots of questions about my programs, but the program that consistently generates the most inquiries from Youth Services Librarians is To Be Continued, our chapter book story time for kids ages 6-8. I invented the program in 2007, when I was looking to bridge the gap between Tiger Tales (our weekly story time for 3-5 year-olds), and Cotsen Critix (our literary society for 9-12 year-olds).

Here’s how the program works. Over a series of weeks, I read from a chapter book. At the end of the book (typically 6-8 weeks, depending on the length of the book) we celebrate with a hands-on project, activity, or field trip that is somehow related to the book.

In addition to listening to books and doing fun projects, kids can also earn books. Each time kids participate in the program, they earn 1 foil star sticker. When they reach 5 stickers, I buy them whatever book they want (up to $12.99 in value). I keep track of their stickers by tracing their hands on sheets of paper. All the sheets are kept in a binder, which I bring out at the end of each session.

When it comes time to order the reward books, kids and parents can shop locally and put something behind the register for me to purchase, or they can send me a link to the book on Amazon. And by “book” I mean anything with pages! I’ve purchased Sudoku puzzle collections, bird watching guides, comics, blank writing journals, and the sheet music to Frozen. I’ve also purchased used books, out of print books, and books in other languages.

Oh, and I always wrap the books up like presents before I give them to the kids. Because who doesn’t want to get a present? Especially when it’s a BOOK!

So, how does To Be Continued go over? Fantastically. We have some really dedicated attendees that I’ve read to (and grown up with) for 3 years! There’s nothing more magical than opening a book and reading to kids. And to put a book they’ve earned into their hands and see them get excited about it? Man. Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes.

Over the years, I’ve answered lots of questions about To Be Continued. Here are some of the more frequent ones, in no particular order. If you have any additional questions, e-mail me and I’ll add them to the list!

When do you have the program?

It’s every Wednesday from 3:45pm to 4:45pm year-round (with the exception of major holidays and the month of August). So it’s essentially an after-school program. Depending on when your school districts let out, you might want to hold the program earlier or later in the day.

This is after school! Most kids just want to run around and blow off steam! How do you keep them listening instead of wiggling?

Oh, let me count the ways!

I have a cache of enormous floor pillows I bring out 15 minutes before the program begins. As the kids arrive at the library, they pounce, drag, stack, and pummel the pillows. That definitely helps them blow off some steam. After about 10 minutes they settle down and the pillows become giant mattresses for them. I’ve actually had kids fall asleep when I was reading!

I also keep the kids engaged by reading the books like they’re radio plays. I use different voices for the characters, pause at dramatic moments, sometimes I even make sound effects. I’ll stop sometimes and talk to the kids about what’s happening in the story – get their opinions, ask them how they feel about something, or ask them to make a connection to something in their lives, etc.

Approximately 30 minutes into the program, we take a 10 minute break so the kids can stretch their legs, use the bathroom, talk, play with their friends…within reason of course. If they are acting totally out of control during the break, that’s not good for anyone.

Do you have any rules for the program?

There are two rules at To Be Continued. The first is “Listen or Leave.” If you’re not listening to the story, if you’re jumping on pillows when everyone else is settling in, talking loudly while I’m reading, or if you’re pestering someone, you must leave the area until you feel you can listen.

The second rule is “During the break, there is NO running, NO screaming, or NO stickers.” Getting the wiggles out after 30 minutes of concentrated listening is fine. But pounding around the gallery and shrieking at the top of your lungs is not.

And I always, always give kids a warning before I enforce either rule. That gives them a chance to regulate themselves. And it works! Especially rule number two. Losing a sticker is a big deal for the To Be Continued kids. In 9 years, I’ve only had to take away 2 stickers.

How did you come up with the title of the program?

The title is a nod to all those cliffhanger radio plays and television shows that ended with a suspenseful “To Be Continued!” In fact, when we reach the end of my program, I always close the book and say “To be continued!” and all the kids invariably shout “Noooooo!” But they perk up when I tell them it’s time to do the book-earning stickers. Sticker earning (and book awards) always come at the end of the program.

I would love to do the book earning thing, but we don’t have room in our budget for it. Any suggestions?

I award a 1 book for every 5 stickers earned. And I cap the purchase at $12.99. On average, kids order books that are $7 – $8. You could always expand the book-earning time frame to say, 10 weeks instead of 5. Or you could cap the purchase at $8. You could have them choose an inexpensive little toy from a prize box instead. I considered doing that (or giving out fun bookmarks). But I decided that my ultimate goal was to get as many books into the hands of kids as I can. And I’m very fortunate that my budget allows me to do that.

How many kids attend the program?

We’ve had as few as 2 and as many as 26. Typically, attendance is between 10-12 kids.

What do you do with siblings who come to the program?

Younger and older siblings are absolutely welcome to sit and listen to the story (and many do!). If we’re doing a hands-on project, they can join in. However, only 6-8 year-olds can earn books.

What happens when new kids join the program when you’re in the middle of the book?

I always begin the program by welcoming the kids, briefly explaining the program, and reminding them of the rules. Then I recap the entire book for them (not just what we read the previous week). When that’s done, I start reading. If there’s a new kid and something in the story needs a little more explaining, I’ll stop reading and quickly supply more backstory. From what I can tell, it only takes a few pages for new kids catch on to the story.

What’s your biggest challenge with this program?

The biggest challenge is finding books to read. You want a book that is appropriate for 6 years-olds, but intriguing enough for 8 year-olds. Additionally, our community is steeped in literature, so most of the kids have already heard “the classics.” There’s no way I can read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at To Be Continued. Everyone already knows it!

In my experience, the best To Be Continued books have some action and a story that moves forward quickly. A little spookiness, adventure, or mystery doesn’t hurt either! The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows was one of my personal favorite. It was so much fun to read aloud, and the kids LOVED it. Once girl loved it so much she requested all the sequels for her award books – all the way to the end of the series.

Here’s a list of all the To Be Continued books and projects I’ve posted on the blog thus far (to scan them visually, see our Pinterest board):

Generally speaking, I’ll read the first book in a series, and then encourage kids to follow up on the other books on their own (and many do!). However, there was one exception to this rule. The kids unanimously voted to have me read Horton’s Incredible Illusions, which is the sequel to Horton’s Miraculous Mechanisms. They really, really wanted to find out what happened to Stuart and April!

If, by the way, you’d like to hear my interview with Lissa Evans, the author of those fabulous books, follow this link. Another author I’ve interviewed from the above list? Mr. Trenton Lee Stewart, puzzle master extraordinaire.

Do you think the program is effective?

I do. I can see the kids listening, I hear them discuss the books as we’re reading them. I watch them become wrapped up in the characters and the plot. Also, I’ve also seen kids change from distracted non-listeners to very intent listeners. The change doesn’t necessarily happen overnight, but over the course of a few weeks (or sometimes months) the change does happen. Best of all, I’ve had parents tell me that the program has inspired more reading at home. YES!